


Family Tree

by AllHaleOlicity



Series: Untold Stories: Next Gen [21]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Next Generation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22442173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllHaleOlicity/pseuds/AllHaleOlicity
Summary: Bex visits her mom
Series: Untold Stories: Next Gen [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1326086
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Family Tree

She didn't bring anyone with her, she didn't want to. She wanted to- No, she _needed_ to do this alone. This was not a problem for other people to be involved with. She didn't need her dad to tell her to calm down, she didn't need her sister to help her breathe through whatever she needed to say. This conversation was one on one. Just her and the person she needed to meet. That was it. She would tell everyone about it when she got home, right now they all think she's recording some music, they'll know the truth soon.

Bex walked up to a small house in a small town outside of Star City, on Saturday morning. She didn't have to go into work until late tomorrow night, so she had plenty of time to get back in the city before then. The logical part of her brain thought that maybe she should tell someone what she was doing, just in case she were to get kidnapped or killed. She texted Christine a cryptic message this morning, her sister was a cop, if she went missing, then she would figure the message out easily. But if she comes home tonight, it will pass as a weird thing she meant to text Isaac.

She rang the doorbell, reaching for the Mickey Mouse necklace that Chris had given her for Christmas. She needed to fidget with something, she also needed a reminder that no matter what happens today, she has a family. She isn't here to look for a new one, she just wants to meet her.

A minute passed, Bex considered ringing the bell again, she also considered just getting into her car and leaving. Before she could make either choice, the door opened. But it wasn't the girl in the pictures that answered, it was a small girl, around Richie's age. Black hair, blue eyes, pale skin.

"Hello." Bex took a step back, unsure if she's at the right house.

"Hello." The girl smiled up at Bex, she looked at her up and down. "I like your shirt."

Bex looked down, she was wearing one of Isaac's pale blue long sleeved shirts. It had cloud designs on it. She needed more than the necklace as a reminder that she had people who loved her at home. "It's my boyfriend's."

The little girl nodded. "My boyfriend gave me this." She held up her arm, a small dark blue bracelet dangled on her wrist. "Daddy says I can't have a boyfriend, but Dylan loves me." She smiled happily, putting her arm down.

Bex nodded. This little girl sounds so much like how Ada sounded at her age. "What's your name?"

"Annabelle." Another voice came from inside of the house, soon an actual adult walked up behind the little girl, pulling her back inside. He was tall, blue eyes, pale skin, blonde hair. Bex was still unsure if she was at the right house. "You aren't supposed to talk to strangers."

"But has a cool shirt!" The little girl protested, trying to walk back outside, the man stopped her.

"Go get mom." He pointed inside of the house, the little girl sighed before skipping out of view. The man looked back at Bex. "Natalia will be right out." He stuck out his hand. "Jonathan."

Bex reached out and shook his hand. "Rebecca." She planned to introduce herself as Bex, but the full _Jonathan_ took her by surprise. He could have said John. That's a name people actually have.

He gestured for her to walk inside, she was hesitant, but she did. The inside was just as small as the outside, it made sense if it was just the little girl and the adults living here. But Bex was kinda hoping she did have the wrong house, then she wouldn't have to think about how there's a little girl living in it.

Jonathan took Bex into the living room, she sat down on the chair in the corner, looking towards the couch. Jonathan went into the back of the home, a few minutes later, Natalia came out. This wasn't the first time Bex had ever seen her mom, Facebook existed in her Dad's prime days as a bachelor, she knew all about Natalia. She just stopped looking after awhile, she didn't care to anymore.

However, this was the first time she had seen her mom in person. She was hoping she'd looked drugged out and unhealthy. But she didn't. She looked happy, healthy, and gorgeous. She was living her best life. Clearly.

She wasn't sure if she should stand, shake her hand, or just sit. So she sat. That's where she was and her body wasn't working with her to actually move, so she sat frozen. Except for her legs, they had a mind of their own and they were shaking like it was negative 2 degrees outside.

"Rebecca." Natalia smiled, she walked towards Bex, saw her flinch slightly, backed up, and instead went for the couch and sat down. "How was the drive?"

Bex shrugged, watching her closely. It was strange to see her in person for the first time. The person who gave life to you and then just....walked away. No letter, no presents, no communication at all until she turned 24. She was upset, she didn't have a lot to say, she just wanted to see what she looked like in person. She saw it. Now if her legs would work with her, she would leave. But she was stuck.

"I was surprised you didn't bring your dad with you." She said, trying to pick a conversation up anywhere she could.

"He doesn't know I'm here." Bex finally spoke, not taking her eyes off of Natalia. Everyone and everything else faded away. It was just the two of them now. "My sister does, but... No one else." She felt it was necessary to mention, just in case Jonathan is a killer.

Natalia looked shocked for a moment, but it faded quickly. Bex wouldn't have caught it if she looked anywhere else, but she was focused on the life giver in front of her. "Sister?" She asked, knowing Bex saw her shock.

"Her name's Christine, she works with our mom at the police station."

There was that moment of shock again. This time, Bex can only assume, was focused towards the word "mom". Dinah is her mom. She didn't give her life, but she raised her, she took her shopping, she was there for every birthday, breakup. Every good moment, every bad moment. Dinah is her mom because Dinah treats Bex like her daughter. Even after giving birth to Christine, Dinah didn't treat Bex any differently. If Christine got an ice cream cone from the truck outside, Bex would also get an ice cream cone. Mother/Daughter dates would be the three of them. Dinah took over where Natalia left off and she did a great job.

"What do you do?" Natalia asked, breaking Bex from her thought. 

"I work with my dad at the Hospital."

Natalia nodded, clearly impressed with that statement. Bex finally took a second to look around the living room, trying to piece together the family situation here. The man is in every picture with Natalia, the little girl is too. The man told the little girl to get mom, Natalia came out. She could be his daughter...But she's probably their daughter. There was something else that caught her eye. It wasn't just the little girl and Jonathan and Natalia. There was another girl, older, probably 17 or 18. She was in some pictures too.

She looked just like the little girl...But she also looked like Bex.

Bex looked back over at Natalia. "Pretty family." She smiled the most genuine smile she could force out. 

"Rebecca-"

"How old is she?" Bex asked, looking back at the picture of the whole family.

"I wasn't ready to be a mother when you were born, I was doing you a favor-"

"How old is she?" She looked back at Natalia.

"She'll be 22 in July."

Bex nodded slowly, finally standing up. "Two years and you were ready to be a mom." she mumbled. It wasn't something directed at Natalia, it was just her thinking out loud. She didn't want to risk the little girl from before hearing.

"Two years is a long time-"

"You could have came back." Bex argued, turning to walk back out of the house.

"You sound like you grew up with a nice life." Natalia followed behind her.

"No thanks to you." She reached for the doorknob.

"Don't you want to meet them?"

Bex turned back to look at her mom, then to the back of the house where she assumed the older girl was hiding out. She shook her head when she brought her focus back to her mom. "You're right, I have a nice life. You do too. Let's just..." She shrugged, opening the door. "Let's go back to our lives."

Bex stepped out onto the porch, Natalia was still following behind her. "I wanted a chance to explain."

"You don't have to explain." She walked backwards through the grass to get to her car. "My dad and I weren't good enough, you found someone who is. I'm happy for you. Thanks for meeting with me, tell Annabelle not to rush into things with Dylan, I don't trust the name." She blurted out before getting into her car.

She needed look back at Natalia, her main focus was getting her car started and heading back into the city. She might actually head down to the studio and record some music today, at least then she would be able to scream and cry and her family would think that it was just her normal routine. Music was her therapy, plus it was fun.

*

A few hours later, Bex walked into the Merlyn house and was greeted by Christine. She was curled up on the couch, blanket over her lap. holding a container of ice cream. Her phone was blasting music through her earbuds, Bex could hear it from a few feet away.

She walked over, pulling out an earbud and sticking it in her ear. She heard her own voice screaming back at her. It wasn't a break up song, just a random song Bex recorded when she wanted something more aggressive. Definitely not a Christine song, she liked the happier stuff.

Bex picked up Christine's phone and paused the music. Chris sighed, pulling out her remaining earbud.

"What's up, angsty?" Bex asked, giving her sister a smile.

"Aidan's being a dick." She replied bluntly. Had anyone else asked, she probably would have been more subtle about it. But Bex wasn't a big fan of Aidan, so if it was Hate Aidan Hour, Bex would be all in on it.

"What'd he do now?" She asked, taking the spoon out of Christine's hand and getting herself a scoop of ice cream.

"He says we can't see each other anymore."

"Why?" Bex asked, mouth full of ice cream.

"I think it's his parents." She shrugged, rolling her eyes. She let out a deep breath, then looked at her sister. "What'd you do today?"

"Went to see my mom."

Christine's eyes went wide, she sat up on the couch to be directly eye to eye with her sister. "You went alone!? How'd it go?"

Bex sighed, leaning back on the couch. "She has a family."

"She has a kid?"

"Two daughters, one is 22."

Christine frowned, putting a hand on Bex's shoulder. "Beck-"

Bex quickly jumped up from the couch, she shook off the hurt and betrayed feeling she had and looked down at her sister. "I'm gonna go get some real food, want anything?"

Chris shrugged. "We can order in-"

"No, I'm pissed and I can't sit here."

"Don't yell at the food guy, it's not his fault. Just order in, we'll talk about it."

Bex sighed again. "Okay, you order in some pizza and noodles." She turned back towards the door.

"Okay." Chris stood up, "And you're going where?"

"I'm not gonna yell at the food guy, _it's not his fault_...But your boyfriend's a dick, so I'm gonna yell at _him_." She turned back to look at Christine for approval.

"Bex, you need to talk about your feelings."

"I will, after I yell at your boyfriend." She made her way to the door, Christine quickly jumped in front of the door before it could open.

"He isn't worth it."

"That's what I told you."

"So, you were right." Christine tried to block the door. "He's a piece of shit."

"Yeah, let me go tell him you said that." Bex tried to move Christine out of the way, turns out a vigilante versus a cop, both siblings, is a hard battle to win. For either of them.

"Beck, I'm not letting you leave."

Bex sighed, turning back towards the couch and dropping down onto it. Christine waited a few seconds, then joined her. Bex looked over at her sister. "Can I tell him he's a piece of shit tomorrow?"

Christine thought about it, then nodded. "Yeah."

The girls shared a smile, then brought back the blanket and ice cream tub. About an hour passed before Dinah and Tommy came home and saw them on the couch, the ice cream tub was empty and on the coffee table, the two of them were wrapped in the blanket and watching a movie.

Tommy and Dinah shared a look before walking further into the living room. "Rough day for the Merlyn girls?" Tommy asked, gesturing to the ice cream and the blanket.

Bex and Chris nodded.

"Well, Richie is staying at the Queen's tonight." Dinah announced. "You girls want to order in?"

"Way ahead of you." Chris opened up her phone. "Joe will be here with our food in about 15 minutes."

"What'd you order?" Tommy asked, taking her phone from her.

"Pizza." Bex answered. "Lots of Pizza."

Tommy shrugged, handing Christine's phone back to her. "How was recording today?" He asked, putting his hands in his coat pockets.

Christine looked over at Bex. Bex sighed. "I'll tell you tomorrow."


End file.
